---
title: «how come the python eats once a month and I need 3 meals a day» Whi… — The reptile house: snakes · tree and pragmatics
description: «how come the python eats once a month and I need 3 meals a day» Which answer fits? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 87 «The reptile house: snakes» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · The reptile house: snakes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«how come the python eats once a month and I need 3 meals a day» Which answer fits?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** I, answer · **What happens:** come, eat, need, fit · **To what, where:** python, 3 meals · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 87 «The reptile house: snakes» of the biology course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/87-reptile-house-snakes/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:87-reptile-house-snakes:t8:1
# text = «how come the python eats once a month and I need 3 meals a day» Which answer fits?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
3	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	csubj	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	eats	eat	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	6	advmod	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	month	month	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
13	3	3	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	14	nummod	_	_
14	meals	meal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
18	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	19	det	_	_
19	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
20	fits	fit	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | the python |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location python=Theme |
| 2 | **eat** *in a quote* | present |  |  |  |  |  | once *property* | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **need** *in a quote* | present | I | 3 meals |  |  | day |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot meal=Theme |
| 4 | **fit** | present | which answer |  |  |  |  |  | vn adjust-26.9 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pythons sneak out to eat in secret every night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:87-reptile-house-snakes:t8:o1:1
# text = Pythons sneak out to eat in secret every night
1	Pythons	python	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	sneak	sneak	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	out	out	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	secret	secret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
8	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sneak out** | present | Pythons |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **eat** | to-infinitive | Pythons *not said here* |  |  | secret | night |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You are much bigger than a python

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:87-reptile-house-snakes:t8:o2:1
# text = You are much bigger than a python
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	much	much	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | You |  |  |  |  | than a python; big *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pythons are on a diet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:87-reptile-house-snakes:t8:o3:1
# text = Pythons are on a diet
1	Pythons	python	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	diet	diet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Pythons |  |  | a diet |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You are warm-blooded and burn food to keep warm

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:87-reptile-house-snakes:t8:o4:1
# text = You are warm-blooded and burn food to keep warm
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	blooded	blooded	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	burn	burn	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
8	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
11	warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | You |  |  |  |  | blooded *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **burn** | present | You *not said here* | food |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent food=Theme |
| 3 | **keep** | to-infinitive | You *not said here* |  |  |  |  | warm *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

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